Rethymno-Panathinaikos 85-58
Panathinaikos made sure early in the game to leave no room for dispute. It was the pure dominator of the clash across from Rethymno at the “Melina Merkouri” indoor arena to edge its host 85-58 in BasketLeague OPAP game 16.
First minutes hosted the Greens setting the tone… At 6’they were up by 10 (6-16), praise to Stephane Lasme combined with Roko Leni Ukic, ante being upped and Sofoklis Schortsanitis sealing the deal for Panathinaikos to be named lord of the paint for the eve, all the way down to 9-28, first quarter score; and all this in frontcourt. Meanwhile the clover in backcourt had managed to confine Rethymno’s activity close to the bucket but also its three-point range, the Cretans to go for 1-for-10 threes during this period of time. Rethymno found the way towards the basket in the second quarter, picked up the slack behind a partial 12-6, to 15 points (25-40, 16’)teams to head to the locker rooms, score board reading 34-50.
Panathinaikos was explosive in third quarter also, more than obvious from partial score 7-22. The gap started to expand once more, all players to chip in. Schortsanitis was unstoppable, leaving the game behind 17 points and 7-for-7 twos. Ukic, Lasme, Maciulis and Bramos added their existence to the equation offensively result being the Greens to mount a +31 advantage at the closing of third quarter (41-72) and then +33 slightly later (41-74). James Gist paced himself also, him too aiding towards Panathinaikos ultimately prevailing by final 85-58. Most important feature of the game the fact that Argyris Pedoulakis managed to offer rest to players since it was the clover’s second game in three days, while next up on Sunday (February 10) is the Greek Cup final.
Referees: Christodoulou, Georgiadis, Pantelidis
Quarters: 9-28, 34-50, 41-72, 58-85
Rethymno (Koufos): Horne, Kallinikidis 4, Colimon 2, Angelopoulos 2, Tsarouchas 3, Tsochlas 8, Duvnjak 10, Kommatos 8, Carter 11, Latovic 2, Petway 8, Sizopoulos
Panathinaikos (Pedoulakis): Schortsanitis 17 (7/7 twos), Bramos 8, Maciulis 6 (5as), Kapono 4, Ukic 11, Lasme 16 (9rbs), Tsartsaris (6rbs), Diamantidis 3, Gist 10 (6rbs), Banks 6, Xanthopoulos 4 (4as), Skordilis
